Creating Art Using Two Interactive Whiteboards
A collaboration between artists Koutaro Ooyama and Asuka Miyakoshi

The Ricoh Interactive Whiteboard D5500 ("IWB" hereafter) that Ricoh released in January 2013 undertook a unique challenge that goes against the conventional notions of office automation (OA) equipment. Two young and energetic artists, Koutaro Ooyama and Asuka Miyakoshi, took on the challenge of drawing a single piece of graphic art using two IWB units. Their dynamic artistry, freely spun from their imagination and the capabilities of the IWB, which faithfully responded to their expressions, resulted in a collaborative work unlike anything that has been done before.

Ooyama, drawing a tiger

Miyakoshi, drawing the background

The collaborative work, drawn simultaneously by two artists, nearing completion

The most outstanding characteristics of the IWB are its smooth, touch-screen responsiveness, stick-to usability, and its ability to share the same display between remote locations while allowing interactive communications. The two artists took advantage of the IWB's characteristics to create a single piece of work using two separate IWB units. See the video that highlights this creative work made possible only by IWB.

We hope that by seeing this video you will understand the subtle expressive capabilities of the IWB and its ability to allow people to work simultaneously through its Real-time Sharing feature, while sensing the possibilities the product offers beyond conventional frames of reference.

Video highlights of the creative project
If YouTube does not work with your system, try going here.

＜Artist Profiles＞
Koutaro Ooyama
Born in 1979 in Nara Prefecture. Resides in Osaka.
Graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Kyoto City University of Arts, with a major in Printmaking.
2001: Formed DOPPEL, a live-painting duo.
2009: Established the VVV label as a means to present and link his own music and painting activities.
2011: Produced SPES-LaB, a Gallery & Creative Studio.
2012: Produced the live-painting video/showcase TRY&ERROR.

Asuka Miyakoshi
Musashino Art University student, majoring in the Science of Design.

＜About the Ricoh Interactive Whiteboard D5500＞
The Ricoh Interactive Whiteboard D5500 is a tool for facilitating meetings, brainstorming sessions, and other collaborative activities in offices and other locations. The product allows people to meet anywhere and immediately begin working collaboratively by connecting PCs, tablet devices, smartphones, and other information devices to the product and monitoring a single large display. The IWB features extremely simple interactive functions such as the ability to display documents brought in, write with an electronic pen, and save/share meeting results, while allowing remote collaboration for increased productivity, such as sharing the displayed image with a remote location via a network, or simultaneously displaying a TV conference.

Contact

| About Ricoh |
Ricoh is a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services. Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in about 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ending March 2013, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 1,924 billion yen (approx. 20 billion USD).
The majority of the company's revenue comes from products, solutions and services that improve the interaction between people and information. Ricoh also produces award-winning digital cameras and specialized industrial products. It is known for the quality of its technology, the exceptional standard of its customer service and sustainability initiatives.
Under its corporate tagline, imagine. change. Ricoh helps companies transform the way they work and harness the collective imagination of their employees.
For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com/about/